NTRA

Duality Sports & Entertainment, in collaboration with the National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA), will present Winner's Circle, a short documentary offering an exclusive look into the high-stakes world of professional horse race betting at the 2024 National Horseplayers Championship (NHC). The film debuts March 6, 2025, on Duality's YouTube channel, with exclusive insights and behind-the-scenes content available on NTRA.com. Each year, thousands of bettors put their skills, strategy, and bankroll to the test in qualifiers across the country, competing for a coveted spot at Caesars Horseshoe Casino in Las Vegas....

Jim Benes, Cheryl McIntyre, and Rich Nilsen have been voted by their peers for induction into the NTRA National Horseplayers Championship Hall of Fame, the National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA) announced Tuesday. These decorated handicappers represent the 11th class of NHC Hall of Fame inductees and will be recognized during the NHC Champions Dinner held Sunday, March 16 following the conclusion of the 26th NTRA National Horseplayers Championship (NHC) at the Horseshoe Las Vegas. "This is a huge honor," said Benes. "The Hall of Fame didn't exist when I started...

Assessing the data amassed by the Horse Racing Integrity and Safety Authority for the 2024 season, the National Thoroughbred Racing Association's Tom Rooney weighed in on the progress made in racing-related fatal injuries since HISA entered the picture. For the first time since the data has been tracked and recorded, the rate fell below 1.00 per 1000 starts for the 2024 calendar year. "HISA has been a clear game changer for Thoroughbred racing and its programs are working," said Tom Rooney, NTRA President and CEO. "It is important to not...

Fritz Widaman has been named Senior Vice President, Marketing and Sponsorships, the Maryland Jockey Club announced Friday. Previously a key executive at the National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA), Widaman brings over 37 years of experience to his new role. Throughout his career, Widaman has demonstrated a commitment to advancing the horse racing industry by leveraging his sales, marketing, and business development expertise to foster growth and innovation. "We are thrilled to have Fritz join the new TMJC," said MJC President and General Manager Bill Knauf. "He is a seasoned professional...

by Bill Finley and Dan Ross Throughout his campaign, President Donald Trump vowed to crack down on illegal immigrants, a promise he has kept during the first few weeks of his new administration. That has created much uncertainly on the backstretches of the nation's racetracks and at the horse farms spread across the country, both of which rely heavily on foreign labor. Should the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) set its sights on racing and start deporting backstretch employees that would mean a major crisis for a sport. A former...

Newly-turned 3-year-old Citizen Bull (Into Mischief) and Saturday's GI Pegasus World Cup winner White Abarrio (Race Day) top Week 1 of the NTRA Top Thoroughbred Poll through Jan. 26. In addition to Citizen Bull, who won the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile at Del Mar last November, Bob Baffert also trains the second-place 3-year-old in Barnes (Into Mischief). Godolphin's 'TDN Rising Star' East Avenue (Medaglia d'Oro) was third while Saturday's GIII Southwest Stakes winner Speed King (Volatile) rounded out the top five. White Abarrio was the top-ranked thoroughbred, beating out newly-crowned...

Every few years the Eclipse Award goes to a horse (always a turf horse) who ships in from overseas--usually fresh--and wins a Breeders' Cup race and our designated voters make the horse an American champion. I remember going down to New Orleans 25 years ago to watch the 9-year-old gelding John's Call (Lord At War {Arg})--a people's horse if there ever was--be named champion turf horse after watching him win the Sword Dancer (by nine lengths) and the Man o' War. Unfortunately in the GI Breeder's Cup Turf he got...

Thursday's 54th Annual Resolute Racing Eclipse Awards will honor the memory of the late Edward Bowen who passed away earlier this week. The decision, made by the National Thoroughbred Racing Association, Daily Racing Form and the National Turf Writers and Broadcasters, will honor the memory of the longtime author, racing journalist, and script writer for the Eclipse Awards since the event's inception in 1971. "For more than half a century, Ed Bowen's words described the most memorable moments of the sport as captured each year during the Eclipse Awards," said...

Jenna Elliot, the groom of 2025 Steeplechase Horse Eclipse Award finalist Snap Decision, has won the Resolute Racing Eclipse Awards Sweepstakes after random selection, the National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA) announced Monday afternoon. Drawn at random from 340 other entries, Elliot and a plus one will be guests of the NTRA and Resolute Racing at the 54th Eclipse Awards Jan. 23 at The Breakers Palm Beach in Florida. They will also be guests of Resolute at the Pegasus World Cup Jan. 25. As part of the promotion, fans were encouraged...

The National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA), National Turf Writers And Broadcasters and Daily Racing Form will offer a live announcement on FanDuel TV of the finalists for the 2024 Resolute Racing Eclipse Awards on Sunday, Jan. 5 at Noon ET, the NTRA said via a press release on Friday. The network will televise live the 54th annual awards show itself, which is held at The Breakers Palm Beach in Florida, on Thursday, Jan. 23. New to this year's event, will be an Eclipse Awards Charity Golf Tournament benefitting the Thoroughbred...

Ten events from Thoroughbred racing in North America last year were nominated for the 2024 FanDuel Racing-NTRA Moment of the Year, a distinction determined by fan voting and recognized at the annual Eclipse Awards, according to a press release from the NTRA on Thursday morning. Voting is now open on the NTRA website and via X, where every retweet or use of the official hashtag for the moments as presented on the @NTRA account will be counted as one vote. The FanDuel Racing-NTRA Moment of the Year will be recognized...

The National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA) has formed a multi-year partnership with the Ed Brown Society to assist young people of color pursue careers in the racing industry, the NTRA said via a Wednesday release. "The NTRA is thrilled to partner with the Ed Brown Society to help encourage diversity in the Thoroughbred racing industry," said NTRA President and CEO Tom Rooney. "We look forward to mentoring the Ed Brown Scholars as they get their start in this amazing industry." Together with NTRA and its other partners, the Ed Brown...